thằng còng làm, thằng ngay ăn
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
The bent man labors, the straight man eats — toil and takings, distributed by posture.
Literally: the stooped one works, the upright one eats
Examples
Thằng còng làm cho thằng ngay ăn.The bent back works so the straight one dines.
Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)
Sources & notes
Discovered via Nam ngạn chích cẩm (Phạm Quang Sán, 1918; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Nam ngạn chích cẩm (Phạm Quang Sán, 1918). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.
Common questions
What does “thằng còng làm, thằng ngay ăn” mean?
The bent man labors, the straight man eats — toil and takings, distributed by posture. Literally: the stooped one works, the upright one eats
Is “thằng còng làm, thằng ngay ăn” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.